I only do scrappy .If I can not play with color I do not play.BUT there are ways to play.One is to pick a border fabric with many colors in it and use all those colors both lighter and darker than the border in the body of the quilt.this will create a very good looking quilt with lots of different fabrics used If the pattern you choose needs a back round a black or off white fabric will give the continuity you need to tie it together with sashing.I am not a person who likes colors in the brown family so I find that because I like jewel tones both light and dark they worf in florals and others.If you like a particular type of fabric e.g. period fabric than make you quilt out of those it will allow you to .use many and create continuity. Hope this helps I could go on and on.